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Tuesday, July 21, 2015

California Summer at the Beachside Boardwalk in Santa Cruz( SF Bay Area Field Trip)

Back around the turn of the 20'th century, amusement parks were a big summertime draw for regular folks - middle class and the lower middle class. With the railroad making close by day trips doable - people took weekend trains out to the edges of urban areas to ride fast rides, eat funnel cakes, compete for cheap prizes and enjoy a little fresh air at a plethora of public amusement parks.The railroads, having acquired massive tracts of territorythrough power private and public land grabs, often owned these temporary fun towns. The trips increased train ridership, even though the actual take at the gate didn't provide much in the way of profit for these major corporations.

The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk was a part of a chain of seaside parks along the West Coast of the United States. Built in 1907, it is the oldest such park to survive, and, though no longer accessible by train, it still makes for a wonderful weekend field trip from the San Francisco Bay Area.